Russia Ukraine war latest: Putin’s ship fires at German helicopter as Nato ‘wait for Trump’ on key decision

US military chief General CQ Brown spoke by phone with Russia’s chief of the general staff Valery Gerasimov last week, US officials said yesterday.

This is the first time Brown has spoken with his Russian counterpart.

“The leaders discussed a number of global and regional security issues to include the ongoing conflict in Ukraine,” a spokesperson for Brown said in a statement.

The rare call took place on 27 November, but “at the request of General Gerasimov, General Brown agreed to not proactively announce the call”. The request for the call was made by the Russian ministry of defence, the spokesperson said.

Brown became chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff last year. Gerasimov had spoken previously with Brown’s predecessor, Mark Milley.

Tensions between Russia and the US over Ukraine have spiked in recent weeks, particularly after Ukraine fired US and British missiles at targets inside Russia despite Moscow’s warnings that it would see such action as a major escalation.

Pope Francis met Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban at the Vatican yesterday and discussed with him the war in Ukraine, focusing on the humanitarian situation and efforts to promote peace in the region.

The pope also discussed other themes with Mr Orban, including the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union as well as the “central role of the family and the protection of the young generations,” the Vatican said in a statement.

During his visit in Hungary last year, the pope met with some 35,000 Ukrainian refugees who remained in Hungary. Nearly 2.5 million refugees entered the eastern European country early on in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A Russian ship shot at a German military helicopter over the Baltic Sea using “signal munitions”, according to German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock.

Nato countries have halted their exercises in the Baltic region amid the latest disruption to pipelines and underwater cables, likely damaged in sabotage attempts.

Talking at a Nato meeting in Brussels, Ms Baerbock confirmed the incident between Russia and Germany, amid heightened tensions over Berlin’s support for Ukraine.

While the minister did not share details about the incident, a north German public broadcaster reported that the German naval helicopter located on a frigate was tracking a Russian oil tanker bound for Syria’s major port Tartus about a week ago.

The chopper took off and flew close to the Russian vessel for a reconnaissance flight. In the logs recorded by the pilot, he mentioned that he had heard “small-calibre ammunition” discharged from the ship, according to the broadcaster NDR.

Russia has not responded to the German defence minister and the news report.

An alleged Russian spy ring targeted Ukrainian soldiers at a US military base in Germany who were believed to be training to use a crucial air defence system to defend against Russia’s invasion, British prosecutors have said.

Bulgarian nationals Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, are accused of being part of a sophisticated spying network run by a Russian agent named as Jan Marsalek, which planned six operations from Britain.

Prosecutors say the trio – along with Orlin Roussev and Bizer Dzhambazov, who have admitted being part of the conspiracy – carried out surveillance of journalists and planned to stage a fake protest outside the Kazakh embassy in London.

The trio are accused of acting under the direction of Roussev who was receiving instructions from Marsalek, an Austrian national who used the false name Rupert Ticz and was chief operating officer of collapsed payments company Wirecard.

Prosecutor Alison Morgan told the jury on Tuesday that in late 2022, Marsalek tasked Roussev with surveilling a US military base in Stuttgart, Germany, though the operation was cut short after the defendants were arrested.

Morgan said Marsalek believed the base was being used to train Ukrainian forces to use the Patriot air defence system.

The surveillance was carried out in October and November 2022, “at an absolutely crucial time in terms of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” she said.

Ivanova, Gaberova and Ivanchev deny the accusations.

The entire British army would be destroyed in about six months to a year in a major war, a defence minister has warned.

Ukrainian forces have reportedly pushed back Russian troops from recently-taken areas near the northern city of Kharkiv.

The Institute for the Study of War said Ukrainian troops have “eliminated a Russian bridgehead on the west (right) bank of the Oskil River near Novomlynsk (north of Kupiansk and northeast of Dvorichna) and significantly reduced another Russian bridgehead on the right bank in the direction of Masyutivka-Zapadne area (southeast of Dvorichna),” citing Ukrainian military observer Kostyantyn Mashovets.

It added: “Russian forces continued offensive operations along the Kupiansk-Svatove-Kreminna line on 4 December (yesterday) but did not advance,” referring to the northern theatre of the frontline.

Additionally, Ukrainian forces recently marginally advanced within Toretsk near Bakhmut, the ISW said. It cited geolocated footage published on Tuesday indicating that Ukrainian forces recently marginally advanced along Ryaboshapky Street in central Toretsk.

A Ukrainian drone has struck Grozny, the capital of Russia’s southern Chechnya region, and caused civilian casualties, state news agency RIA quoted Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov yesterday.

Kadyrov said the drone had struck the roof of a building housing a special police regiment. There were no details on the number of casualties and whether he was referring to deaths or injuries.

The Chechen leader has been a vocal supporter of Russia’s war in Ukraine, to which he has contributed Chechen forces.

Earlier, in October, the roof of a military training centre in the Chechen city of Gudermes was set ablaze in what appeared to be the first Ukrainian drone attack directed against Chechnya since the start of the war.

The fall of the French government yesterday and its failure to pass a budget could make it difficult for Paris to ramp up its support for Ukraine.

Speaking ahead of a no-confidence vote yesterday that saw Michel Barnier’s government collapse, defence minister Sebastien Lecornu said there would be an impact on France’s support for Ukraine.

“A large part of the Ukrainian support is the transfer of old equipment from the French army that is then replaced with new equipment,” Lecornu told Le Parisien newspaper.

“If we slow the order of new equipment then we will have a slowdown of deliveries for Ukraine.”

France in November completed the training of some 2,000 Ukrainians, and has recently provided armoured vehicles for troop movements and reconnaissance, Caesar howitzers, anti-tank missile units, surface-to-air missiles and battlefield radars.

It also sent new missiles in recent weeks using funds from frozen Russian assets and plans to provide Mirage fighter jets in the first quarter of 2025.

Lecornu, a potential future prime minister, said in October that France would fall short of the €3bn ($3.16bn) in support for Ukraine pledged for 2024, saying the actual figure was closer to €2bn.